FCC: Landline Number Move Should Take 1 Day, Not 4

PETER SVENSSON

NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Communications Commission voted Wednesday to force landline phone companies to act faster when their subscribers want to move their phone number to a rival service.

The commission will require companies to transfer, or "port," landline phone numbers within one business day, down from the current four-day requirement.

Wireless numbers are currently ported within one day — in many cases within hours — and the commission said landline companies should be just as fast.

Landline numbers can be transferred to competing landline services, such as those from cable or Internet calling companies, or to cell phones.

The shortened porting period should take effect in about a year.

The FCC told the North American Numbering Council, which coordinates number issues for the carriers, to develop new procedures within about three months. The carriers will then have nine months to comply. Smaller carriers will get an extra six months, for a total of about a year and a half.